The Fifth Sunday After the Epiphany
February 4, 2007
Isaiah 6:1-8
Psalm 138
1 Corinthians 15:1-11
Luke 5:1-11
Good morning, good people of St. George’s Church. And welcome to the Boy Scouts of America, Troop #3 who meet here every Tuesday evening in our parish hall. It’s good to have you here, and we thank you for participating in our worship service and for providing for our hospitality in the parish hall this morning. Of course, we welcome you to worship with us any time, but because you are all here this morning I especially invite you into my sermon which I have prepared with you in mind.
It was easy for me to keep you in mind, as well as the people of St. George’s Church because our scripture lessons today make much of tradition. Both the Boy Scouts of America and the Episcopal Church are steeped in tradition. Both traditions, however, began not in the United States, but in Great Britain. The story goes that a Chicago newspaper publisher, W.D. Boyce, was visiting England when he became disoriented by the fog as he walked down a London street. A young man stopped to help him find his way back to his hotel and Mr. Boyce wanted to reward him for going out of his way to help. The young man thanked him but refused to take any money. He said that he was a British Scout and helping others was one of his duties. Well, Mr. Boyce was so impressed by the boy’s attitude and demeanor he looked into the British scouting organization and brought much of what he learned about scouting back to the United States. Soon after, on February 8, 1910, he incorporated the organization called the Boy Scouts of America. Now I imagine that Boy Scouts have some familiarity with this story. But I thought it might be helpful to tell this small part of it so that the people of St. George’s know why you are here today. This is a way for you to acknowledge St. George’s Church for being your hosts in providing a place for you to have your meetings, but you are also here at this time when you are honoring the tradition of scouting as you approach your anniversary as Boy Scouts of America.
So, now that we know why you are here this morning, I think this is also a good opportunity to tell you why we are here every Sunday morning, to honor our own tradition as people who call ourselves Episcopalians. In America we are called the Episcopal Church, but we came from the Church of England. Together we are called churches in the Anglican Communion. Those of you who worship in Protestant churches and those of you who worship in Roman Catholic churches will identify things about our worship service which are familiar to you in your tradition. That is because worship in the Episcopal Church draws on practices from both Catholic and Protestant traditions. So we hope you will feel comfortable in what you experience to be familiar, and we hope you are open to new experiences of worship which are not so familiar. Most of all, I hope this sermon makes us think about the importance and value of our respective traditions for the ways they form us as people in scouting and as people of God in the Church. And I hope we will recognize the importance of handing down our respective traditions to future generations.
The Boy Scouts of America is an organization which is nearly 100 years old. The Episcopal Church in America is more than 200 years old. And both institutions existed well before we brought them to America and made them distinct to our American culture. So I can’t help asking. What if somewhere along the line, enough people decided that they did not want to hand down the tradition of scouting or the traditions of the church any longer? Suppose we decided to end those traditions in our lifetime. Well, it is not too difficult to imagine the consequences of such actions. We would no longer have an organization called the Boy Scouts of America, nor would we have an Episcopal Church. What IS difficult to imagine, however, is NOT having them. It is difficult to imagine not having them because these traditions were here for us when decided to become part of them. And having been part of them, they have become part of our life. They have formed us as the people we are and they will continue to form us to be the people we will become. The Boy Scouts of America and the Episcopal Church hold great meaning for us because these are the places we learn and grow, and form lifetime friendships, the places we become a community who work and play together, where we care for each other and take care of each other.
But what if, one day, you woke up and there were no more meetings of the Boy Scouts, because there was no boy scout troop in Lee or anywhere in the Berkshires or anywhere else for that matter. How would you feel? I know how I would feel if someone took my church away from me. I would be lost. I would not know what to do or where to go. And if I could even find something to replace it, that something would never quite measure up. It could never take the place of that community which gave me such meaning and purpose for my life. An experience I had only recently gave me some idea of what it might feel like to come to church or to a Boy Scout meeting only to find there was no church service or no Boy Scout meeting. Just a few weeks ago I was in the parish hall doing some work with another parishioner when a man and his young son walked through the door. The boy was wearing a scouting uniform and his father asked me if there was to be a scout meeting. I did not know the answer to that, but it seemed certain that there was not a scheduled meeting. I saw the look on the boy’s face as his father led him out the door. You might imagine his disappointment. But that was not the end of it. About 10 minutes later another father walked through the door with his son to ask me the same question. When I saw the look on the boy’s face, I immediately tried to think of anything I might do to set up a scouting meeting right there and then. After all, my son had been a scout. I could remember something to do. And I was sure I could remember the Boy Scout’s Oath. But in the few seconds I had to answer the father’s question, I realized how well-meaning, but foolish my idea was. But I knew why I entertained the thought. I did not want to see another look of disappointment on the face of a boy eager to be a scout among scouts in the brotherhood of Boy Scouts of America. I imagined how I might feel should I ever walk through these doors on a Sunday morning only to find that no one was here to worship with me.
Well, such things happen. Many fine organizations and institutions close their doors because people who enjoyed their benefits did not see to it that the same benefits would be there for their children and grandchildren. They were not willing or able to hand down the tradition, and the tradition died with them. And we might think that the traditions of Boy Scouting and the traditions of the Episcopal Church are well-established in sound and healthy and viable institutions. But institutions are as vulnerable as people are. They are subject to damage and decay and even death before their time if we do not take care of them. They are especially vulnerable to such things if we do not love them, because love is what makes things matter to us. We have great passion and real joy for the people, places and things that we love. And it is because we love them that we take care of them.
Isaiah knew this. So did the Psalmist. As did the apostle Paul. And, of course, Jesus. In all our scripture lessons today we see the value of handing down traditions to generations of people who would come after us. People we would never meet or know, but people, nevertheless that we would love. Our sons and daughters, and generations after them, would know we loved them and cared about them because we handed them a tradition they would come to love and care about. And tradition would continue throughout the generations. In today’s Hebrew scripture Isaiah becomes initiated into a long tradition of Hebrew prophets. Prophets are people who make us see the world the way it is, and they warn us of what it may become if we do not change their ways. We hear the voice of many modern day prophets today. People who tell why unhealthy habits are bad for us and what will happen if we don’t change them. People who tell us about the threats to our environment and warn us what will happen if we do not change our ways. People who tell us the harsh realities of fighting wars we cannot win and what will happen if we do not change our approach to conflict resolution. We are not surprised that such prophets are ridiculed and scorned, or even worse ignored. Sometimes they are even killed. Because they tell us things we don’t want to hear. They show us things we don’t want to see. We think they are out to make our lives miserable, but in fact, prophets prophesy because they love us and they care about what we are doing to ourselves and our world. And should the day come when prophetic tradition becomes extinct, we will have no more prophets to show us our foolish ways and tell us why we must change them. And if we should die by our foolishness, we will no longer have traditions to enjoy or people to hand them down to.
Our Psalmists, like the one we heard today, keep us in a tradition of worship. Not just worship in an institution, like a temple or a church. Psalmists worship God everywhere and in all things; in the natural order of God’s creation, in the beauty of holiness and in times of darkness and despair, anger and grief. Psalmists help us recognize that the traditions we establish to honor God and to worship him are necessary to our life, in the good times and in the bad times. Traditions of worship help us grow to God, and growing to God helps us grow into the people God hopes for us to become. This is why honoring God is a strong component of scouting. Because honoring God enables us to honor God’s creation. Honoring God helps us to honor others and to live the honorable life God calls us to live.
In our epistle lesson, the Apostle Paul speaks directly about the value and necessity of handing down the traditions we establish as the Church for honoring God and for honoring each other. Paul’s congregation at Corinth has forgotten what he has taught them about their faith, and they are not practicing the traditions Paul has handed down to them. And so Paul writes to them to remind them of the importance of keeping those traditions alive for the sake of future generations who will come to their own faith by them. Paul says: “I remind you, brothers and sisters, of the good news that I proclaimed to you, which you in turn received, in which you also stand…for I handed on to you as of first importance what I in turn had received.” Paul goes on to remind the people that they would not have their church if he had not handed down his faith tradition to them. This is an important message not just for the Church, but for any institution or organization which seeks to hand down its traditions to generations which follow. It is not a task we can leave to others. It is ours to do. You and I are the people who must care for the traditions we love if we are to hand them down to future generations.
Then, of course, there is Jesus. The One who is at the center of our church’s traditions. And central to our church traditions is the tradition of following him. We follow Jesus because he is our teacher and example. Following him makes a difference in our life, and we believe that makes a difference in our world. We know that if we do not follow him, then we will soon forget who we are. Our traditions will die or at best they will be handed down half-heartedly to future generations. This is also true of scouting. You follow in the example of those who have come before you and you live by the teachings of your tradition. Just as we have our creed, you have a Boy Scout Oath to follow. Just as our scriptures and sermons help us know who we are and how we are to live in the world, you have your Scout Law. You have mottos and slogans and codes to live by, and you will find similar kinds messages embedded in our liturgy as we worship. We follow the oaths and creeds of our traditions and we follow in the paths of the people who have gone before us to establish them. Following is an essential aspect of tradition. Following requires honor and preparedness, faithfulness and obedience. These are what keep tradition alive and healthy and viable for handing them down to those who come after us.
In today’s Gospel lesson, Jesus tells Peter to go catch some fish. To Peter this is a ridiculous request. He has been fishing all night and he has caught nothing. He has secured his boat and cleaned his nets, and now Jesus is telling Peter to go to deeper waters near the spot where he had been fishing, at a time in the day when the fish are not even biting. We can’t blame Peter for being reluctant to follow Jesus’ command. But Peter goes not realizing that by his very action, he already shows an inkling of faith and a willingness to follow this teacher who commands such following. Peter of course hauls in boats full of fish. And for someone like Peter, especially as we hear his story on Super Bowl Sunday, this catch is better than making the winning touchdown catch for his team in a Super Bowl game. And much like the pass receiver who kneels to the ground in a gesture of thanksgiving to God after receiving the pass, Peter acknowledges his own humility and gratitude at his abundant success by falling to the ground at Jesus’ feet. When Peter stands on his feet, he follows Jesus to become one of twelve disciples who will follow the teachings and example of Jesus throughout their life. They will establish the church in the world and that is where our tradition will begin. Our tradition is nearly 2000 years old and the health and strength of our church is in maintaining and handing down our traditions while at the same time being able to adapt them for new circumstances in every new age.
And so, on this day as we approach the celebration of the 97th anniversary of the Boy Scouts of America, and on this day when the people of St. George’s Episcopal Church celebrate the life and death and resurrection of Jesus in our Eucharist, we join each other in celebrating traditions which are forming us to become the persons God made us to be. Traditions which teach us to love and care about them and traditions which show us how to love and care for each other. Traditions which have helped us find our value and worth as children of God. Traditions which are eminently worth handing down to future generations. But that will depend on you and me. That will depend on how faithfully we follow the teachings and example of those who gave them to us.